Graphics card upgrade

[maxp]

Hi, i've got the stock mac pro (2.66/1gb/7300gt). I dual boot with Windows XP.

I want to upgrade my gfx card in a few months time. I was wondering if i could still boot into osx if i put the 7300gt in slot 4 and the new (non mac!) graphics card in slot 1(pcie x16)

EDIT: Im aware the new gfx card would not work in osx, but its really for playing games in xp

[Lord Blackadder]

I'd save up and get the Apple X1900XT. Not cheap, but works in XP and OSX...

[adamda]

I'm no expert, but from my fairly extensive Mac Pro readings around forums - having a PC graphics card in your system prevents you from booting into the Mac OS. You'd have to do a lot of hardware swapping for that setup... not ideal. I'd either go with the x1900 or wait for new cards to become available (what I'm doing... don't like having only one reasonably priced option).

[minnesotamacman]

Outside of what Apple sells, are there any upgrade card that will work with the Mac Pro? I want to upgrade, just don't want to pay the high price Apple charges.

[MacRumorUser]

Yeah if the windows gaming side is what your thinking of, you may want to delay your purchase for a few weeks and see what DX10 hardware graphics cards come out. I'm sure the next Nvidia or Ati card that supports DX10 will be available in a mac variant in the new year.

[maxp]

Hmm thats interesting. I read somewhere of a user with a 7800gto and a 7300gt using both o/s no problems.

[Lord Blackadder]

I think that having a PC card and a Mac card will cause OSX to ignore the PC card...

On a related note, the folks over at the Strangedogs video card flashing forum have discovered that a PC Radeon X1900XT 512MB (NOT the 256MB version) can be flashed (http://strangedogs.proboards40.com/index.cgi?board=experiments&action=display&thread=1158739989&page=5) on to the Mac without any hard mods (no soldering etc). The PC cards aren't necessarily a lot cheaper (some are) but they are easier to get your hands on...Newegg can overnight one to you. The X1900XTX may also be flashable - one of the the fastest vid cards out there right now.

[maxp]

I think that having a PC card and a Mac card will cause OSX to ignore the PC card...


Thanks, this is the answer i've been looking for! With regards to this setup will a 7300gt in slot 4 cause any problems with os x seeing as its running at 8x rather than the usual 16x pci speed?

[Lord Blackadder]

The 7300GT should function in any slot...I'm pretty sure OS X will ignore the PC card but I've heard that Windows is picky about which slots have which. You may need to do a little experimenting but you should be able to get the 7300GT to coexist with another card.

[Spanky Deluxe]

Hi, i've got the stock mac pro (2.66/1gb/7300gt). I dual boot with Windows XP.

I want to upgrade my gfx card in a few months time. I was wondering if i could still boot into osx if i put the 7300gt in slot 4 and the new (non mac!) graphics card in slot 1(pcie x16)

EDIT: Im aware the new gfx card would not work in osx, but its really for playing games in xp

How much speed are you looking for? You could always get a second Apple 7300GT to run in SLI in Windows. That's what I've been doing and with the cards overclocked I get around 4800 in 3DMark'06.

[maxp]

How much speed are you looking for? You could always get a second Apple 7300GT to run in SLI in Windows. That's what I've been doing and with the cards overclocked I get around 4800 in 3DMark'06.

Im not planning to buy one now, i want to buy a dx10 card in a few months and i want to know if i can buy a pc model but still boot into osx with the 7300.